Receiving a private school education may be more affordable, thanks in part to scholarships being offered by Christ Lutheran School.

The East Point pre-K and elementary school is offering scholarships to 20 low-income families with an emphasis on single-parent homes or those with grandparents who have guardianship of their grandchildren.

Normal rates of tuition at the school are $900 per month, but with the scholarship, qualifying families will pay $325.

Pastor Stephen Wiggins said this is for the greater good of the community.

“When I first began at [Christ Lutheran School], I was told we were the best-kept secret in East Point,” he said.

“We decided it was time to give back and one of the ways for us to do that was through this very special scholarship fund.”

Wiggins said he is partial to the strengths of Lutheran education since he experienced it firsthand in his upbringing.

“I am the product of Lutheran education,” he said. “My father is a Lutheran pastor and my mother was a Lutheran teacher.”

Wiggins said he realizes there are obstacles to encouraging those in the south Fulton community to attend a school with a Lutheran affiliation.

“I realize that in the urban community, the Lutheran name is not well known,” he said.

The formula for the school’s success is a combination of a quality education in a Christian environment, said Wiggins.

Small class sizes encourage the nurturing, family environment that the school strives for, he said.

“Because we offer a private and Christian education, we seek to educate in a family atmosphere,” Wiggins said. “We accomplish part of that by small classroom sizes. On average, we have one teacher per seven students.”

Other aspects of the school include a mobile computer lab with more than 15 laptops, a robotics program sponsored in part by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, a music school and an arts program.

All students learn Spanish using the Rosetta Stone program and the school will add Japanese language classes in the fall.

“For the amount of money that our tuition is, it is a quality education,” Wiggins said.

Residents interested in applying for scholarships can contact the school office and ask for Wiggins.

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